Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing with ease at high yield and high purity in industrial settings trisphenols, which are useful as materials for polymer compounds such as epoxy resins, polycarbonate resins or the like or as materials or additives for photoresists. It also relates to a new 4-acylaralkylphenol derivative having a bisphenyl molecular skeleton with the acyl group in one phenyl ring and the hydroxyl group or acyloxy group in the other phenyl ring. Such compound is useful as various reactive materials having the effect of improving heat resistance, etc., especially as intermediate materials for generating trisphenols used as materials for polymer compounds such as polycarbonate resins or the like or as materials for photoresists, etc., through reaction with phenols.
Description of the Related Art
Among trisphenols, especially trisphenols other than of the trisphenol methane type, 1-[1,1-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl]-4-[1-methyl-1-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethyl]benzene is known. These trisphenols are favorably used as materials for polymer compounds such as epoxy resins, polycarbonate resins or the like or as materials or additives for photoresists, etc. These trisphenols are known to be obtained by reacting isopropenylacetophenone and phenols (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Sho 62-084035).
However, this known material isopropenylacetophenone presents a problem in that it contains active olefin groups and thus has poor storage stability, and easily forms a polymer by readily undergoing polymerization due to heat or impurities such as acid or the like are mixed in. Other problems of isopropenylacetophenone include high cost and low yield of synthesis.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method for producing trisphenols with ease and at high efficiency in industrial settings without using alkenyl acetophenones such as isopropenylacetophenone or the like as the materials, but using an readily available material offering high storage stability, as well as a need for a material compound that can be reacted with phenols to produce trisphenols.